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Wilfrid Laurier University Special Constable Service

Students give Laurier excellent marks in The Globe and Mail University Report Card

Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing

Nov 1/06

Our students give Laurier excellent marks in many key areas, including university atmosphere, quality of education and satisfaction with the university experience, according to The Globe and Mail University Report Card 2006, released October 31.

“Overall, it’s a good news story,” says president Dr. Bob Rosehart. “We’re quite pleased with the results again this year. This survey has a little extra credibility (compared to other surveys) because it’s arm’s length. The university is not involved in the process.”

The report card is based on participation by students from 49 Canadian universities who are registered on the studentawards.com database. They were asked more than 100 questions about their universities. A mean score was calculated for each university for each question, based on the responses of students who attended that school. Universities were then assigned a letter grade – A+ to D – for each variable.

On the clearly positive side, Laurier received:• A+ for overall university atmosphere.

We also received a grade of A for:• school spirit• faculty members’ knowledge of subjects• sense of community on campus• sense of personal safety/security• class sizes• satisfaction with university experience• overall quality of education.

The study singled out Laurier for showing improvement in the areas of faculty feedback, the number of courses to choose from, student residences, online course/teaching materials, campus atmosphere and reputation of professional schools.

The survey noted a worrisome trend: at 25 universities, the availability of spaces for students in courses necessary to complete their degrees dropped. Laurier, however, was one of only two universities to buck the trend.

Laurier got only four grades below B- out of the 71 categories, and didn’t get any D grades. We received grades of C+ in co-op/internship opportunities, reputation for conducting leading-edge research, availability of merit-based scholarships, and services for Aboriginal students.

The university is already at work in these areas. A new career services-co-op building is now under construction on King Street, which will be of assistance to both staff and employers; a new position (associate vice-president: research) was created this year to promote research activity at the university; our scholarships are competitive and are always under review; and Aboriginal services—currently very strong at the Brantford campus and within the Faculty of Social Work—received a boost at the Waterloo campus with the creation this summer of the Office of Student Diversity.

Food services at Laurier received a B- but that’s not so bad. It seems that students everywhere are picky eaters. Of the 49 universities in the survey, only two received a B in the category of food services, and that was the top mark given. Eighteen universities received a mark of D.

Barry RiesPublic Affairs

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